Guardianship

Our expert team is very experienced in dealing with sensitive family law proceedings involving children, including Guardianship applications.

A Guardian will have certain rights and responsibilities to make decisions on their child’s upbringing. While married parents are automatically joint guardians of their children, a father who is not married to his child’s mother does not have automatic guardianship rights to their child.

The unmarried father must satisfy certain legal criteria and make the relevant Court application to be appointed a joint guardian.

Custody

Custody is the term used to describe the day to day physical care and control parents have of the upbringing of their children.

Our team offers sensitive legal advice to separated parents who may be seeking sole or joint custody of their children. We will guide you through a Court application, if this route is required, in which the Court’s primary consideration will be the welfare of the child in question.

Access

A parent who does not obtain custody of their child is generally entitled to apply to the Court for access to their child, if an agreement cannot be reached between the parents.

In the same manner as other family law matters involving children, the Court will determine the application based on the best interests of the child, and will usually grant an order for access unless there is a serious reason in which it should not be granted. We advise both guardians and non-guardians on any prospective Court application for access, and the likely terms of such an order.

Do You Need Advice on Any of These Issues?

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